Detection rules › Kusto
AWSCloudTrail - Creation of Access Key for IAM User
Detects creation of a new IAM access key on an existing user account, which could be used to establish persistence. This action should be validated by the AWS account administrator. Reference: https://stratus-red-team.cloud/attack-techniques/AWS/aws.persistence.iam-backdoor-user/
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Persistence | T1098.001 Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Credentials |
Rules detecting the same action
Other rules on this platform that filter on the same API call or operation.
- ASL AWS Create Access Key (Splunk)
- AWS CreateAccessKey (Splunk)
- AWS Lateral Movement from Kubernetes SA via AssumeRoleWithWebIdentity (Elastic)
- New IAM Credentials Updated (Panther)
- Root Account Access Key Created (Panther)
- User impersonation by Identity Protection alerts (Kusto)
Rule body kusto
id: 9a6554e6-63d9-4f94-9b32-64d1d40628f2
name: AWSCloudTrail - Creation of Access Key for IAM User
description: |
Detects creation of a new IAM access key on an existing user account, which could be used to establish persistence. This action should be validated by the AWS account administrator. Reference: https://stratus-red-team.cloud/attack-techniques/AWS/aws.persistence.iam-backdoor-user/
severity: Medium
status: Available
requiredDataConnectors:
- connectorId: AWS
dataTypes:
- AWSCloudTrail
queryFrequency: 15m
queryPeriod: 15m
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
- Persistence
relevantTechniques:
- T1098.001
query: |
AWSCloudTrail
| where EventName == "CreateAccessKey"
| project-away SourceSystem,Category,Type,TenantId,EventVersion,SessionIssuerAccountId
| extend UserName = substring(UserIdentityPrincipalid, indexof_regex(UserIdentityPrincipalid, ":") + 1)
| extend Name = split(UserName,'@')[0],UpnSuffix = split(UserName,'@')[1]
entityMappings:
- entityType: Account
fieldMappings:
- identifier: Name
columnName: Name
- identifier: UPNSuffix
columnName: UpnSuffix
- entityType: IP
fieldMappings:
- identifier: Address
columnName: SourceIpAddress
customDetails:
EventName: EventName
AWSRegion: AWSRegion
UserAgent: UserAgent
alertDetailsOverride:
alertDisplayNameFormat: IAM access key created by {{Name}} in {{AWSRegion}}
alertDescriptionFormat: User {{Name}} (principal {{UserIdentityPrincipalid}}) created a new IAM access key in region {{AWSRegion}}.
version: 1.0.2
kind: Scheduled
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: source
AWSCloudTrail
Stage 2: where
| where EventName == "CreateAccessKey"
Stage 3: project-away
| project-away SourceSystem,Category,Type,TenantId,EventVersion,SessionIssuerAccountId
Stage 4: extend
| extend UserName = substring(UserIdentityPrincipalid, indexof_regex(UserIdentityPrincipalid, ":") + 1)
Stage 5: extend
| extend Name = split(UserName,'@')[0],UpnSuffix = split(UserName,'@')[1]
Indicators
Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
EventName | eq |
|
Output fields
Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.
| Field | Source |
|---|---|
UserName | extend |
Name | extend |
UpnSuffix | extend |